1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a protective device for application to furniture, bed supports and casters, consisting of a sleeve or cylindrical body of a generally resilient material having a hollow center and adapted to circumvallate the bed support and the supporting caster thereof. A radially disposed cut in the sleeve extending along at least one radius thereof to provide accessing of the sleeve around the bed support and caster, and also to facilitate its removal therefrom, and the sleeve having a longitudinal dimension being slightly grater in distance than an overall distance between a bed rail, disposed at an upper extremity of the bed support, and a support plane or floor for support of the caster, to effect a slight compression of the sleeve due to its resilient characterization and tending to retain the sleeve in locus between the bed rail and the support plane or floor; the sleeve has a lower section with a larger diameter at the lower section and has an upper section with a smaller diameter to provide more distribution of the slight compression within the upper section than in the lower section.
The material of the sleeve of the invention is of a sponge material, an elastomeric material, an expanded polyurethane material, a foam material, a resinous material, or an open cell material that is removably available for washing and sanitizing the device; and also the method of the construction thereof.
The term "circumvallate" in Webster is defined as something being surrounded by or as if by a rampart, specially enclosed by a ridge, wall or material; and is defined in Steadman's Medical Dictionary (1982) as denoting a structure surrounded by a wall, as the circumvallate papillae of the tongue.
The invention relates further to a method of making a bed support and caster device comprising the steps of forming a sleeve or cylindrical body of a generally resilient material having a hollow center and adapted to circumvallate the bed support and the supporting caster thereof and providing a radially disposed cut in at least one radius of the sleeve, and extending along at least one radius thereof to provide accessing of the sleeve around the bed support and caster, and also to facilitate its removal therefrom, and providing a longitudinal dimension of the sleeve that is slightly greater in distance than an overall distance between a bed rail, disposed at an upper extremity of the bed support, and a support plane or floor for support of the caster, to effect a slight compression of the sleeve due to its resilient characterization and tending to retain the sleeve in locus between the bed rail and the support plane or floor; the sleeve has a lower section with a larger diameter at the lower section and has an upper section with a smaller diameter to provide more distribution of the slight compression within the upper section than in the lower section thereof as more particularly described herein.
2. Description of Prior Art
The prior art of furniture, and bed caster and support devices and the like systems, as well as apparatus and method of their construction in general are found to be known, and generally show horizontal roller bumpers: to protect the mobile furniture accidental contact with the surrounds, to provide a cheap, durable, and ornamental caster cover, and to protect the shoe of a person using the furniture.
These historic bed support and caster protective products have the distinct disadvantage that they do not lend themselves to quick and simple application to the caster, an automatic compressive method of holding the protector in place, a simple open cell design allowing easy cleaning and sterilizing. It is also a disadvantage of the devices of the prior art that there are extra steps required in the fabrication by the methods disclosed, that require a considerable amount of extra labor. These extra steps are not required by the subject invention.
The following references were found to be of interest: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,885,821; Frick; May 12, 1959, U.S. Pat. No. 2,290,001; Sherman; Jul. 14, 1942, U.S. Pat. No. 2,059,348; Herold; Nov. 3, 1936, U.S. Pat. No. 1,641,127; Densalow; Aug. 30, 1927, U.S. Pat. No. 672,138; Stockwell; Apr. 16, 1901.
Stockwell shows a furniture caster guard for a chair-leg that protects the caster without surroundingly encompassing the entire caster itself.
Densalow surroundingly encompasses the caster with a cylindrical sheath without protecting the member receiving the shank of the caster itself.
Herold discloses a bell shaped guard without providing any protection at all for the chair leg that receives the pintle of the caster.
Sherman and Frick disclose a bumper tire for providing a vertical protector beneath the caster sleeve and above the caster itself without providing any lateral protection for either the caster or the caster sleeve.
The patents or known uses teach and disclose various types of guards and protectors and show various sorts of manufactures as well as methods of their construction, but none of them whether taken single or in combination disclose the specific details of the combination of the invention in such a way and to bear upon the claims of the present invention. Close approach to the present inventive structure was not observed in the above cited references. Accordingly, the patents cited above and their patents of reference should be considered as being of general interest and illustrative of the scope of the available art.